Electronic publishing (ePublishing) has been around virtually since the advent of the computer. While ePublishing offers numerous advantages to the author of the work (via lower costs of distribution, lower entry costs into the field, easier portability, etc.) or has added new functionality to the work (via animations, links, assignments, etc.), ePublishing has to this point failed to change the fundamental nature of the work itself. The apparent goal has been to make dissemination of works easier for the publisher. While these advances have provided benefits to the publisher of the work, and may have provided some enhancements to the reader of the work, in fact, many often make it more difficult for the reader to enjoy the work itself.
As an example, Adobe offers what they refer to as an eBook. This is a portable, protected document file format that allows authors to scan or copy their works in a manner that for all intents and purposes resembles the draft copy of the publication they would have previously sent to a printer prior to publication in book form. In essence, the end user is required to act as his or her own printer if they wish to enjoy the work on paper. Alternatively, the user is forced to view the work on a computer screen or other PDF-compatible electronic device.
Published patent application U.S. 2002/01825578 describes the creation of virtual replicas of current works and the ability to add interactive functionality such as animations, links, etc. This approach and others also allow a user to interact with the publication, e.g., by providing a mechanism for the author or reader to ask or answer questions posed in the publication, etc.
In these cases, however, the essential nature of the work itself is unchanged. The user is required to make an active attempt to locate, read and digest the material at the users own pace in an environment that for all intents and purposes still retains the essentially passive qualities of a book or periodical, albeit in a somewhat different format. The link to an eBook on a user's computer desktop no more promotes reading than the paperback lying on the nightstand.
Serialized content has also long been delivered to users via network interfaces. Web sites such as The Daily Inbox (http://dailyinbox.com/) deliver quotes, parts of books or periodicals to users who subscribe to their service via email, PDAs or other interfaces. The publisher in these instances appears to benefit by 1) increasing sales of their print publications through increased awareness or readership of the print publications via their online content distribution, and 2) advertising revenue associated with advertisements delivered with the messages delivered to the end user as a part of the content. Ultimately, the publishers are unconcerned if the end user actually uses, benefits or actually reads the (network or print) publication, the publishers benefit from revenue derived from publication sales and advertising.